3D tech news, graphics programming, pixel hacking and demoscene

Radeon HD 6990 Overview

Ecco fatto, AMD has launched the fastest graphics card on the market: the Radeon HD 6990. This power (processing power and above all power consumption) monster is made up of two Cayman GPUs (the GPU of the HD 6970) on a single PCB. AMD’s Radeon HD 6990 features dual-BIOS capabilities. This feature is controlled by the Unlocking Switch, which toggles between the factory-supported Performance BIOS of 375W (BIOS1), and an Extreme Performance BIOS (BIOS2) that can potentially unlock higher clock speeds and up to 450W of mind-blowing performance.

HD 6990 performances

HD 6990 power consumption and temperature

According to AnandTech tests, HD 6990 power consumption (card alone) with Crysis is aournd 335W while under FurMark, the power draw reaches 461W
(I computed the power consumption with (P_load – P_idle) * 0.9). The max GPU temperature is 88°C under Crysis anf 94°C under FurMark.